Fernando Torres in action for Spain. But will he stay at Liverpool? Photograph: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

It's that time of year when people like me spend hours on websites, hoovering up snippets of information we know are almost guaranteed to be untrue. The time when texts arrive at odd moments of the day and night from fellow obsessives passing on the latest piece of gossip. And the time when my family finds me more distracted than usual. Yes, it's football transfer window time – the period between the end of the season and midnight on 31 August that starts off as a slow burn and becomes ever more frantic as the deadline approaches and clubs, players and agents take brinkmanship to the max to secure a deal.

For fans, transfer speculation is pure theatre – a form of pre-season football entertainment that's almost as much fun as the on-pitch variety. And every bit as obsessional, as we look for stories that will screw up our rivals (Come on Barca, cough up for Arsenal's Cesc Fábregas), but mainly for those involving our own clubs. Only last week I got a text alert saying that Spurs' third-choice goalkeeper, David Button, was going on loan to Plymouth Argyle. Even I'm not sure I needed to know that.

To add to the intensity, transfer speculation has never been about the truth. This year's main buzz is that Fernando Torres is definitely staying at Liverpool and Fábregas is definitely staying at Arsenal. Yes, well, maybe. Only if both players are still with their clubs on September 1 will Liverpool and Arsenal fans really relax. And then only until 1 January when the mid-season transfer window opens for a month (and people like me get distracted all over again). For this is a cat and mouse game of disinformation with millions of pounds at stake. Do Torres and Fábregas really want to stay in England? Almost certainly not. Both would probably be far happier playing in their home country, Spain. But happiness has got nothing to do with it. Torres's value has decreased after a run of injuries. He doesn't want to admit his price tag has dropped, so he announces he is staying.

As for my club, Spurs, well, it's trickier than most because since the end of last season manager Harry Redknapp has linked himself to Joe Cole, Raúl, Cardozo, Forlán, Cahill, Falcao, Gallas, Huntelaar, Bellamy, Parker, Fabianao and Ozil. And over the weekend the rumours were out again. We're going to swap Jermaine Jenas, David Bentley and Robbie Keane for Villa's Ashley Young. Sure we are . . . Bring on next Saturday's Premier League kick off. It will be a lot less tiring.